TAGALOG is one of the major languages spoken in the Philippines, mostly by people from the Tagalog regions in the main island of Luzon. It is the lingua franca in Metro Manila, the national capital region of the country. It also serves as a base for Filipino, one of the two official languages of the Philippines (along with English). Read this interesting essay on the metamorphosis of Filipino as national language.
The TAGALOG language has very strong affinity with Malay languages (Bahasa Indonesia/Malay). However, due to more than 300 years of Spanish colonial rule over the Philippines, the language has incorporated a significant number of Spanish words and expressions. The language also includes words and phrases that are rooted in English and Chinese.
President Quezon's administration dealt with the question of our national language. Following a year's sturdy, the Institute of the National Language - established on 1936 - recommended that Tagalog be adopted as the basis for our national language. The Proposal was well received, considering that the Director - the first to be appointed - at the time Jaime C. de Verya, a Visayan.
On December 1937, President Quezon issued a proclamation approving the constitution made by the Institute and declaring that the adaptation of the nationals language would take place two years hence. With the presidential approval, the Insititute of National Language started to work on a grammar and dictionary of the language.
But nowadays, some Filipinos use the Filipino language with other foreign languages like English which they called it as TAGLISH. It really means that some Filipinos are ashamed of our own language. Some Filipinos also used English fluently rather our own language which is not right because we are Filipinos. It is really good to hear that we are proud and fluently speaking our language Filipino in order to honor our country….

“Ang Taong Di Marunong Magmahal Sa Sariling Wika ay Higit Pa Sa Malansang Isda”.